The localization industry is growing each year, with no signs of slowing down.
Your business likely has its own localization needs. But are you truly ready to scale your business internationally?
Once you determine your localization strategy, you need to execute on the localization projects themselves.
Coordinating all of these efforts is a full-time job and it’s where a localization project manager can really add value.
In this guide, we break down everything you need to know about the localization project manager role, including why companies hire them, their core responsibilities, and how they leverage technology to improve their performance.
What is a localization project manager?
Localization project managers execute an organization’s localization and translation strategy on a tactical level. Their day-to-day work involves collaborating with team members to complete translation and localization projects.
So, what do localization project managers do, exactly?
In a nutshell, they hold the entire localization process together.
Broken down further, they manage the entire localization process: initiating, executing, and closing projects.
They do this by managing:
- Budgets
- Teams
- Suppliers
- Workflows
- Expectations
Today’s translation project manager needs to do more than just translate content. The real challenge is localizing content to look and feel natural in each target market.
Why companies hire localization project managers
The global localization market is growing by an annual compound growth rate (CAGR) of 6%.
Localization project management is an in-demand discipline that continues to grow.
Take a look at open roles at big companies:
- Spotify
- Netflix
- TikTok
You’ll see listings for translation project managers (PMs) who are part of a larger localization team. They’re key business partners who make a localization strategy come to life.
But why exactly do companies hire project managers to localize their content?
Here are the most common reasons:
1. You want help reaching global markets
Markets can become saturated and highly competitive. To grow your business, you need to increase either the revenue you get per customer or the number of customers you have.
To grow your customer base and diversify, you need to reach a wider audience. And to do that, you’ll eventually need to tap into international markets.
With a localization project manager, companies can implement market expansion strategies that break through to global audiences.
2. You want to localize your product
Are you trying to expand your products to new countries or languages? Then you’ll need a translation project manager to guide you.
They can help you:
- Conduct market research for new markets
- Update your product packaging and labeling
- Handle shipping and logistics with international carriers
3. You don’t have a localization team already
If you’re trying to expand internationally but your company doesn’t have a localization department established, you’ll need to hire a project manager.
A localization project manager can help you set up and fine-tune your workflow.
Plus, they can set up translations and integrations with various tools.
4. You regularly post new content across digital channels
If you’re expanding and regularly post content online, you need someone translating and localizing it.
Localizing content is essential no matter what channels you post on:
- Company website
- Social media
- YouTube
- Other digital channels
Having someone in charge of your international strategy is crucial to creating content that engages your target audiences.
It’s not just a necessity if you post frequently. You still need a translation project manager on hand even if you update content occasionally.
5. You need someone to lead translation efforts
Are you trying to translate your content or product copy into new languages? Then, you need someone to lead your translation efforts.
A project manager can help you:
- Create style guides and glossaries
- Manage content updates
- Oversee translation process
- Monitor progress and timeline
- Ensure content accuracy and quality
Most importantly, they can help you ensure your translations are of the highest quality.
Localization project manager job description
Typical responsibilities you’ll find on a job description for a localization PM include:
- Overseeing project kickoffs to creating detailed project plans and deliverables
- Managing end-to-end localization workflow across the team using translation management tools and systems
- Coordinating freelancers, localization vendors, linguists, subject-matter experts, and internal stakeholders
- Documenting each step of the process and optimizing it
- Communicating internally and externally with stakeholders to ensure effective cross-team collaboration
Additional responsibilities include:
- Proactively assessing project risks through prioritization, bug management, and any other means necessary
- Balancing translation costs and project budgets
- Exploring, assessing, and selecting relevant AI technology to make the localization and linguistic tasks more efficient and less costly
- Defining the quality requirements and metrics for all content types that require localization
- Defining the most relevant KPIs, monitoring the metrics
- Providing inputs for ROI assessment on localization investments
Here’s what a job description looks like for a full-time role at Spotify:
“Our Localization Program is growing and you will work from our Stockholm’s office and will work closely alongside your colleagues in New York to further enhance and support our localization team’s mission and vision. As Localization Manager, you will be in charge of maintaining our tone of voice in every language while also ensuring we respect our customers’ cultural preferences and more. With the 20+ languages already supported, you’ll be fundamental to Spotify’s success around the world.
What you’ll do:
- Manage translation projects for product, marketing campaigns, CRM, e-mails, and web content, oversee localization and QA workflow, and make sure that every deadline is being kept.
- Ensure work is done within budget and that vendors adhere to their service level agreement.
- Lead meetings and work closely with cross-functional teams of designers, product owners, internal reviewers, engineers, marketers, and others across the company, passionate about Spotify’s success. You will facilitate communication of localization requirements, share insights, resolve any issues and ensure that we operate in line with our overall localization strategy.
- Share best practices and evangelize our localization efforts.
- Review, prioritize, and track the resolution of bugs that affect localized product content quality and functionality.
- Develop and implement processes to increase efficiency, and manage cost and time to market for localized versions.
- Together with your teammates, research and incorporate industry best practices and innovation into our localization and translation strategy.
- Test possible tools and technologies to enable the team’s strategic goals.
- Give input to budget and follow up on costs related to translations.
- Work on project retrospective with our stakeholders.
- Prepare comprehensive reports and presentations.
- Report to our Lead Localization Manager located in our New York HQ.”
How localization project managers fit into the workflow
Every translation project has many moving parts, from the design phase to the final QA checks. Depending on the size and scale of the website, content, or product, the localization process can involve many types of collaborators:
- Developers
- Product managers
- Digital marketers
- Copywriters
- Marketers
- UX/UI/design professionals
- Translators
- QA specialists
- Reviewers
- And more
To understand where localization project managers fit into the localization process, imagine your workflow as a continuous cycle with five steps.
Here’s the crux of what happens at each step:
1. Start a new localization project
Your developers create the translation keys and store the code in a repository like GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket. Then, you upload localization files to your TMS.
2. Invite collaborators
Next, you connect translators, editors, proofreaders to the project and assign tasks to them.
Role assignments and user groups within your translation management system (TMS) allow managers to involve everyone who needs to be involved:
- “Need-to-know” billing owners
- Executive sponsors
- Team members assigned to a specific project
3. Translate
Determine which languages need translation and order from professional translators or use machine translation:
- See how much is done
- What’s yet to be translated
- Estimate time to finish
Use features like comments and chat to work together on checking translations, managing deadlines, or changing project requirements. You can also set up an integration through Slack or email.
4. Run QA checks
Detect errors using built-in automated QA checks the TMS provides.
For example, inconsistent placeholders, leading/trailing whitespace, and errors in numbers. QA professionals use the live preview on mobile or desktop and in-context editors to ensure everything’s in order and meets quality standards.
You can also add an additional layer of visual QA using two-way integrations with design tools like Adobe XD, Sketch, and Figma.
5. Release
Once all levels of QA are finished, you can launch your product or digital content.
A translation project requires a high level of collaboration between cross-functional teams. Localization project managers serve as the point persons across the organization to make sure project schedules stay on time and within budget.
Localization tools that support integrations with project management tools like JIRA, Asana, and Trello are important localization workflow features for your TMS. They help each team know:
- What’s going on with the translation process
- When milestones are achieved
- The target timeline
No matter what’s going on in a translation project, your localization project manager will be able to know who to talk to and where you are in the process, making it transparent for everyone.
The profile of a successful localization project manager
Localization project managers oversee the entire localization process. Successful translation project managers possess a few key skills:
- They’re detail-oriented and organization-savvy and have strong problem-solving skills.
- They can multitask and code-switch, interfacing with project team members across the organization.
- They are technologically minded and comfortable learning new platforms, software, and tools.
- They know translation management systems (TMS), CAT tools, and databases.
- They have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Here are some skills a localization project manager should have:
- They understand scope and risk management to keep projects on track
- They understand time and stakeholder management
- They can effectively communicate with partners and vendors,
- They can adapt localization projects based on feedback
- They can coach, train, and lead team members
- They have experience working in global teams, and they are culturally aware
Many translation project managers also have translation skills and can speak multiple foreign languages. That helps them monitor the quality level of translations.
Localization managers should also understand the translation services market. That way, they can negotiate better terms with their partners and understand which requirements are realistic.
But as many PMs know, a job description only tells part of the story when it comes to managing complex localization projects.
What does detail-oriented, tech-savvy, or leadership look like in practice? And how does collaborative localization software help?
Localization project management best practices
If you want your localization project management to succeed, you need to focus on a few different elements in your strategy.
Here are the most common pillars of a successful strategy:
Plan more than you think
Localization is a serious undertaking with many moving parts. That’s why it’s crucial to take time to plan your translation project management strategy.
Project managers have to wear many hats and oversee dozens of different roles. To ensure a project runs smoothly, you need to focus first on the planning stages to ensure the success of your efforts.
You need to take the time to:
- Research
- Dive into goals
- Assess budgets
- Find and hire partners
Don’t overlook the planning stage — it will set the tone for the entire project.
Conduct thorough market research
Many project managers jump into the localization process without conducting thorough research first. But to succeed, project managers need to know their markets inside and out.
It’s vital to nail initial research to understand:
- Different markets
- Translations
- Cultures
Plus, succeeding with research isn’t just about what you do at the beginning. You need to conduct ongoing research to stay compliant with laws and maintain accurate translations.
Collaborate with locals
It’s impossible to succeed with translation and localization if you do it alone.
To ensure the success of your translation project management, partner with locals who know the language and culture inside and out.
Project managers need to connect with local linguists and cultural experts to understand how to communicate with regional audiences.
In addition to language and cultural experts, project managers should partner with local business partners.
By connecting with businesses and freelancers, they can get extra help with market research, logistics, or even customer support.
Focus on team communication
As mentioned above, a localization project manager must oversee many different people in different departments, teams, and regions.
Dealing with multiple languages can be challenging, which is why they need to communicate regularly with different team members. Teams often include:
- Company executives
- Copywriters
- Designers
- Product managers
- Translators
- Developers
- Editors
- Marketing
- Sales
- Local translators and cultural experts
- Local market research companies
Project managers need to regularly inform team members whenever new information or files are available so they can make quick changes and corrections.
Optimize for quality localization
Launching a localization strategy is challenging, especially when you’re launching into multiple new markets simultaneously.
Focusing on translation and localization quality is essential. One small translation error could lead to a poor user experience for thousands of potential customers.
To maintain translation accuracy, you need to review translation performance and perform quality assurance (QA) checks regularly.
Track and report on progress regularly
How do you know if your translation project is a success?
By tracking progress and conducting regular reports. This means you need to keep records and documents about your process and key performance indicators (KPIs).
Project managers should send regular progress updates to their team and upper management to keep everyone on the same page.
It’s not just important to track your projects to see that you’re reaching your goals. You also need to track different parts of your project in case you encounter any translation issues.
Leverage modern technologies
There are thousands of moving parts in any marketing campaign, product launch, or other localization project.
Don’t try to do everything manually. It’s incredibly time-consuming and can lead to inaccuracies in translations and cultural references.
Instead, leverage the right technologies, such as project management software, communication tools, and localization software, to reduce errors and improve efficiency.
How Lokalise helps localization project managers
Collaboration tools like Slack, Google Meet, and shared online documents are important communication methods for remote teams.
But they can’t handle the complexity of continuous software and game localization.
The same is true for spreadsheets.
As Saskia Tennert, Localization Project Manager at Webgains shared, moving away from spreadsheets has been groundbreaking for the company:
“I needed an hour for all translations prep within a spreadsheet for a batch of keys and languages, but now that only takes about 15 min with Lokalise tasks feature.”
Localization project managers need to find a way to create a single source of truth that makes it possible to juggle translation projects across products, websites, and blog articles in your organization.
By efficiently coordinating the process, localization project managers can contribute to decreasing time to market if they are using the right tool.
Elevate your project management with Lokalise today
Are you a localization project manager or looking to start a career as a translation project manager?
To streamline your team’s workflow, maximize productivity, and expand to other markets, you should check out Lokalise, a world-class translation management software.
Lokalise’s customers report up to 37% shorter development release cycle and 8 times faster translation delivery.
Want to see what it’s all about?
- Try Lokalise for free or book a demo with our product specialists to explore how to make the most of your localization software.
Get the free ebook with exclusive insights and real-life examples from 10+ companies, such as ActiveCampaign and Onfido, and learn how to assemble the best possible localization team.
